You probably have read about news saying chocolate can lower blood pressure and therefore is good for health. Don’t be happy too quickly and drive straight to supermarket to grab as many chocolate as possible.
Why?
Read on to find out key 3 things about this fact:
- To be exact, it is the dark chocolate that can lower blood pressure and protection against heart disease, and not any other chocolate. Dark chocolate is chocolate without milk. It is also known as plain chocolate or bittersweet dark chocolate. The cocoa content has to be at least 15% to be qualified as dark chocolate. Without milk, our body can then absorb antioxidants from chocolate. So, forget those classic favorites like bars, chips, sauces or dips which mostly made from milk. And white chocolate expand hips rather than helping blood flow.
- Second, if you really want to eat dark chocolate to help lower blood pressure, you still have to balance your diet by eating less calories from other foods.
- Also, many chocolate companies have removed flavenols, the heart-healthy ingredient, due to their bitter taste. They add it sugar. So, rule of thumb, the bitter the dark chocolate, the better it is.
In fact, in addition to lowering blood pressure, bitter dark chocolate is a good energy source too because it releases slowly into bloodstream and does not elevate insulin levels.
Next time if you want to spoil yourself after workout and if you want to eat chocolate, do not buy “white chocolate” or “milk chocolate”. Instead, go for dark chocolate in small amount and make sure you balance the extra calories by eating less of other things. Last but not least, this small little benefit does not give you a license to eat chocolate everyday without control.
Category: Nutrition 
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Robert Garcia // Jun 21, 2009 at 1:59 AM
Hi,
I agree with what you are saying. I didn’t know that dark chocolate was actually healthy for you until I found a company that promotes “Healthy Chocolate”. The reason they are saying it’s so healthy is because they “cold press” the cocoa beans and don’t alkalize, roast, ferment them which keeps all the flavonol content intact. They also use raw can juice crystals for the sweetener which is low glycemic.
I have been eating this chocolate everyday for the past 2+ years and I feel better than ever!
Robert Garcia
Angie Tan // Jun 22, 2009 at 9:55 PM
Ooo… Do take note about the sugar content. Some dark chocolate compensate by adding a bit more sugar…
I’d guess if we get the good quality ones which is 70% dark chocolate, it should be fantastic!
Rich // Jun 25, 2009 at 12:24 AM
glad i read this before i started eating a ton of chocolate non stop :)
Ann S // Sep 4, 2009 at 9:14 PM
Perfection is finding a way to implement chocolate into our fitness regime and diet. It is definitely important to understand that DARK chocolate is the chocolate that is good for you (in moderation). It’s all about self control. Good information provided in your article, thanks.